Mercedes Moné Hits Out At Tribalism In Wrestling
As she prepares to return to wrestling on television, Mercedes Moné has made it clear she’s not a fan of tribalism in pro wrestling.
After spending about a decade in WWE as Sasha Banks, the former Women’s Champion decided to walk away in May 2022. In early 2023, Banks rebranded herself as Mercedes Mone and said that she handled her exit like the boss that she was.
A serious ankle injury in May 2023 led to Mone not wrestling again that year. It has since been reported that Mercedes Mone is headed to All Elite Wrestling after agreeing to a contract with them around the 2024 New Year.
While Mone has yet to publicly talk about her AEW debut that’s expected to happen on March 13th, she spoke out against tribalism in wrestling. The term tribalism in pro wrestling has to do with some fans loving one company, hating others, and getting angry about that sort of thing.
In an interview with Evan Mack of the Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast, Mercedes Mone believes that wrestlers shouldn’t think there’s only one place to wrestle at.
“No, they should never think that. They should never think that there’s one place. I knew that from the beginning because there’s wrestling everywhere. Wrestling is for everybody. I don’t think you should just like one company. You should open your eyes to so many things.”
“Because your favourite wrestlers come from all different companies. They travel from around the world to gain their craft so much more so they can make it to a top company. They wouldn’t be there without all these different places and all these promotions. Because they need that experience, that growth so they can be the best.'”
Mercedes Mone Tells Wrestling Fans To Have Fun
The interview continued with Mone encouraging wrestling fans to have fun and cut back on getting angry.
“First of all, I think we’re just living too much in our phone, the internet. It’s like – will you just go outside for a little bit and then go back into your room and watch wrestling. [It] is so funny. They watch it just to critique it, to hate it. They hate to love it. That’s the thing – they hate to love it. [They should] just love it.”
“Have fun. It’s just television. It’s just entertainers putting their bodies on the line to entertain you. And you’re the ones that are getting angry and going ‘Well, they should be in this company because this company [blah blah blah]…..’ What? You’re telling us what company we need to be in? You’re telling us what job we need to take?”
The March 13th episode of AEW Dynamite in Boston (Mone’s hometown) is called Big Business and is expected to feature Mone’s official debut in AEW.
As for a possible first rival, Mercedes Mone’s first opponent in AEW might have been revealed on the March 2nd episode of Collision. During the show, Serena Deeb spoke about her talent and undefeated record since returning to AEW when Deeb referred to herself as “The Final Boss.” It’s a reference that has led to many people thinking Mone will be feuding with Deeb upon her arrival.